“It has to be a very worked process, with counterparts, and it has to be very clear what Uruguay is going to get out of this”, he raised.
The mayor of Montevideo, Carolina Cosse, defended the artiguista thought, raised in the Instructions of 1813, when asked about the relevance of the Jura of the Constitution of 1830, commemorated by authorities this Monday. “I embrace the Artigas Instructions of 1813 when I think of the 1930 Constitution”, he told the press.
When asked about the announcement by President Luis Lacalle Pou that a new stage of negotiations has begun with a view to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China, cosse answered: “I say the same thing as the previous time: I resist archiving”. In this way, the intendant invited to remember -as she did the daily this Friday – the session of February 2, 2017 of the International Affairs Commission of the Senate, when, before the then Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa, Lacalle Pou warned about the consequences of “advancing alone” towards an FTA with China, without the Mercosur partners.
The mayor stated this Monday that “an FTA is not signed in a hurry”, but that “a negotiating team with strong negotiating experience has to be generated and it is a process that cannot be overnight, which has to be a very worked process so as not to undress a saint to dress another”.
“If we open ourselves to China from one day to the next, goodbye to the Uruguayan industry,” he said, adding: “It has to be a very worked process, with counterparts, with preparation processes and it has to be very clear for all Citizenship, what is Uruguay going to get out of this?
Power
Cosse leads the Broad List, the sector he formed in the last electoral process, the one that reached the Senate and won the departmental election in the country’s capital from an alliance with the Communist Party of Uruguay (PCU).
When asked about the participation that the Broad Front (FA) should have in this agreement, the mayor assured: “There are two powers in the world: the United States and China. And China, you really can’t look the other way: it’s a very important country. This is a major agreement and it would seem reasonable for the entire political system to participate and for it to be a transparent process for citizens, where we do not get bogged down in technicalities and we are very clear about what Uruguay gets out of the agreement”.
“The same thing I said when I was part of the government of Dr. Tabaré Vázquez: FTAs must be negotiated a lot and very well,” express.
At the close of the press conference, in which Cosse spoke about various issues, the mayor was also asked if the FA should expand the coalition for the next elections. “The Broad Front is great; it’s always big,” she replied.
Cosse, the one from 13
stitch and other national authorities and departmental participated in commemorative acts of a new anniversary of the Swearing of the Constitution.
“It seems to me that it is always a very important day of reflection for Uruguayans because history is a journey, a path, and because the origins of our Constitution are neither more nor less than in the Instructions of the year XIII, of our Artigas “, said the mayor, and added: “There in those Instructions of 1813 -we must think of the head of the time more than 200 years ago- the foundations of the State were laid: civil and religious freedom in all its imaginable extension; separation of powers, which could not be touched in any way -executive, legislative and judicial-; Artigas said in those Instructions, military despotism will be annihilated through constitutional obstacles; and also set the goal of the government to work for equality and security. Nothing was missing. Those Instructions alone configure what a State is. That is artiguist thinking. I embrace the Instructions of Artigas of 1813 when I think of the Constitution of 1830”.
“For me it is a day to reflect on Artigas and artiguismo, on his deep vision of what the State should be. Those artiguist principles must always be embraced and defended, without pause”, concluded.
preview of the summit
For his part, Lacalle Pou highlighted on Monday the importance of the country being able to advance “together” with Mercosur in an FTA with China. “The idea is to move forward together. Mercosur has much more negotiating power as a whole than Uruguay alone,” the president told the press when participating in the act for the 192nd anniversary of the Swearing-in of the Constitution.
“We are convinced that the Mercosur regulations protect us,” said the president, who added that “there have already been some actions by other countries that have made decisions outside the consensus.”
After this, he stressed that the idea is to move forward together, although he clarified that Uruguay is not willing to sit still, because it must open the market and get more jobs for its population.
«The initial idea is that it be all together. Mercosur has much more negotiating power than Uruguay alone. What happens is that if Mercosur does not intend to advance, Uruguay cannot be frozen, “ stressed.
Finally, when asked about the next Mercosur Summit going to be tense due to this matter, Lacalle Pou said that he did not see a dramatic situation. «You have seen me in all the summits, which until now have been virtual, commenting on where Uruguay is going. No one can be surprised by what Uruguay has been trying to do for a long time”, he indicated, adding: “You have to be firm with ideas and soft with people. Uruguay is firm with its position and with its path because it is for the good of the Uruguayans.
This Wednesday, Lacalle Pou will travel to Paraguay to participate in the Mercosur Summit in which Uruguay will assume the bloc’s pro tempore presidency. Montevideo Portal
Photo: Dante Fernandez/FocoUy
